


If All Goes South, April Fool's?

by ace_jug



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, April Fools' Day, Drabble, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:53:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28860618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ace_jug/pseuds/ace_jug
Summary: Richie decides to tell Eddie how he feels on April Fool's Day. Eddie's anxiety gets the best of him.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 1
Kudos: 61





	If All Goes South, April Fool's?

Richie had the perfect plan.... until he didn't. 

.....

It was simple enough. 

Wait until April Fools, tell Eddie he likes him, and if all goes south (which it'd likely go), he'll say it's a joke and even if Eddie doesn't really laugh, their friendship won't be ruined and he won't have to deal with rejection. 

It was foolproof. Nothing wrong could realistically happen. It was the perfect way to confess his feelings; not having to worry about what ifs anymore and not risking his friendship with Eddie or any of the other losers if the word got out. 

It was the perfect plan or at least it was to Richie. 

Man, he was such a dumbass.

....

"Hey Eds, how's it hanging?" Richie asks, poking his head in front of his friends face and popping an elbow onto his shoulder. 

Eddie screams and once he sees Richie he quickly pushes him off. "That's not my name, asshole."

"Right Eduardo, so rude of me not to use your full name," Richie says smirking. "Anyways, mine after school?" He asks, his heart hammering in his chest. He tries not to sweat, which is practically impossible when he's filled with such anxiety and his hands already feel clammy. 

Eddie thinks for a moment and starts to glare at Richie. "If you prank me today I swear to god!"

"I won't," Richie says as he puts his hands up in defense. 

"Promise?" Eddie asked, taking a step back from Richie like he may do it at that exact moment. 

Richie gulps and he shakes nervously. 

"I promise," Richie says. He's sincere. He really is, but the thought of his plan going south erupted him with nerves. He didn't dare over think it though, because this was all he had. 

He didn't just want to do this. He needed to. And he knows Eddie. If he "pranked" him, Eddie would act mad, but barely be irritated for more than a second. 

It was fine. He could do this. 

......

Every April fools Richie does something. Either by pranking or doing something stupid. Last year, Richie lied all day like it was opposite day. It was the whole point. He wore his pants and shirt in the opposite direction. He went all day without his glasses (he only sat at the wrong lunch table and talked to one girl for 5 minutes straight thinking she was Beverly). He didn't fray from the act either. 

If that wasn't enough, he also bubbled wrapped Stan's entire room and filled Bill's bag with dry cereal. 

The year before he put his lock on Beverly's locker (she nearly killed him), put a fake baby in Mike's desk, and convinced Ben that he had an FBI uncle. 

This year.... Richie hadn't done anything. He didn't wear his shirt backwards, he didn't fill lockers or bags with random things, and once the day came to a close, Eddie got worried. 

He hadn't been pranked yet. (Besides Richie's opposite day shit, but that was directed towards everybody). He was the only loser to not get pranked on April Fools actually. He had always told Richie that it'd give him too much anxiety to worry about what Richie would do and he respected that or at least... he thought he did. 

Once the day ended and he started walking to Richie's house with him, he couldn't help but feel nervous. He really didn't want to get pranked. He knew it would be harmless, especially in comparison to IT. 

He gulped and he started to sweat nervously. He knew Richie wouldn't prank him. He knew it made Eddie nervous and besides, Richie hadn't brought up the day at all. He could have forgotten or matured enough to stop pranking. 

But once they got to Richie's house, everything went south.

"Hey, I have to tell you something," Richie says once they're in the quiet of Richie's room. 

Eddie looks at him blankly. The boy looks scared and nervous. He doesn't know what's happening until Richie speaks. 

"I have a crush on you," is the next thing Richie says. "I know it's a lot and you're my best friend, but I couldn't hold it in anymore."

The nerves bubble in Richie's chest and his voice wavers when he speaks, but before he can even let out the breath he's been holding, Eddie blows up. 

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Eddie yells. Richie looks at him, eyes wide in horror as Eddie stands up, hands in the air, and anger written all over his face. 

"You think this funny dipshit? What the hell is wrong with you!? What if I would have believed you, huh? And why me? Is it because you know? You fucking know, don't you? I thought you were my friend!" Eddie yells, his voice becoming more defeated as he gets to the last sentence. Tears start streaming down his face, hot and heavy. His face burns and he desperately claws at his face with his hands, his eyes screwed shut. He feels so embarrassed and he inwardly cringes so hard, he wishes nothing more than the ground to swallow him whole. 

Richie doesn't know what to do. Any scenario that went through his head had not gone like this one. Not at all and he stands up, takes a step forward, and tries to apologize. "I'm so-"

"Fuck you," Eddie says taking another step towards the door. "That wasn't funny. Not at all. I can't believe you'd make fun of me for this. I'm gonna go," Eddie says, taking the knob of the door and Richie hurries to slam it.

"I'm not making fun of you," Richie says. "I don't understand how that's making fun of you in the first place."

Eddie looks at him, trying to read Richie. He looks serious, or as serious as Richie can look. He doesn't seem like he's lying, but he's on edge now. He tries to prepare for the worst, because what Richie was saying couldn't be right. He knows that. 

"You're making fun of me for being gay, right? You know I am and now you went through this whole plan to embarrass me. Well, it worked, so please let me go," Eddie says, trying to pull on the knob again, but Richie doesn't budge. 

"I didn't know you were gay," Richie says and Eddie rolls his eyes. 

"Why else would you pretend to like me and me specifically? You're a real asshole, ya know that Rich?"

"I mean; I am, but I'm saying I like you because I like you. The whole point of doing this stupid shit on April fools was to make sure I had a backup plan for when you rejected me; but now the whole plan is shit, because you thought it was a prank from the get go."

Eddie stares at Richie blankly, his cheeks blushing in a dark shade of red. His heart starts beating loudly in his chest and he starts to shake. "I swear to God if you're lying Tozier," he says, gulping.

"I'm not. I really really really like you," Richie says blushing too and Eddie is sure that no matter how good of an actor Richie could be, he could not fake those kinds of nerves. 

"I uh. I like you too," Eddie says, looking down at the ground to avoid Richie's gaze. 

Richie stares at him. It feels like a dream, unreal, and after a few moments, he touches Eddie's face, lifting his chin up to look at him. 

"Can I kiss you?" Richie asks. 

"Only if it's not a prank," Eddie says, still a little doubtful of the whole situation, but Richie only smiles and kisses him. 


End file.
